Warney: I accept the responsibility for what I did'

HAMILTON — The expanding federal probe into Mayor John Bencivengo netted its first conviction Friday morning, when Robert Warney, a former top township official, pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in U.S. District Court.

Warney confessed he accepted money in Bencivengo’s name from an unnamed insurance broker seeking to retain a lucrative contract with the Hamilton Township School District.

Warney, who resigned as the township’s director of community planning and compliance on Wednesday, admitted to taking a $5,000 check from Ljuba in May 2011 that was then passed onto Bencivengo through several payments over the next several months.

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The check was made out to Warney’s wife and had a notation indicating it was to be used for a “cherry bedroom set.” That $5,000 was part of the $12,400 federal prosecutors say Bencivengo, who was indicted earlier this month on bribery and money laundering charges, took from Ljuba in exchange for influencing Hamilton school board members to continue using her company.

“When you did something wrong, sometimes you are better off admitting you made bad choices,” Warney said Friday in an interview after pleading guilty. “I’m not speaking for (Bencivengo), but it obviously doesn’t look good the governor coming out against him, council coming out against him. I wanted to do the right thing and resign and plead guilty.”

Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday called for Bencivengo to resign. GOP Hamilton Council members Dennis Pone and Kelly Yaede have also called for the two-term Republican mayor to step down.

Allen Associates, according to public records, did have a contract with the Hamilton School District from 2006 through 2009, though it continued as the district’s broker until a story by The Trentonian several weeks ago revealed that the firm was working without a contract.

As part of his plea deal, Warney admitted taking two payments totaling $10,000 from Ljuba in 2006 and 2007. He said that those payments, made while Warney served on the Hamilton school board, were in exchange for his vote on approving a three-year contract with Allen Associates.

Warney on Friday declined to comment on the corrupt payments he took as a school board member. He also wouldn’t comment on whether he would testify against Bencivengo in federal court. Instead, the former Hamilton Township municipal director focused his comments on his role as Bencivengo’s intermediary, saying he takes personal responsibility for his crime of laundering money.

“It comes a time when you have to admit you made poor decisions,” Warney said. “I want to put it behind me and put it behind my family and the community and move forward in a positive manner. That’s why I pleaded guilty today.”

Warney, 46, a married father with an 11-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, said the incident brought him and his family “much closer together,” adding, “I’ve become a stronger person. I’ve been a better family man.”

“When you have kids that count on you, you have to be upbeat and positive,” Warney said. “ I’m hoping, in the end, you turn a negative into a positive. I’m a better person now. I’m not making excuses. I accept the responsibility for what I did.”

Warney’s admission places Allen Associates, a firm with a long history of donating to New Jersey Republicans, firmly in the spotlight of the growing federal investigation. It is the first time anyone connected with the case has alleged Ljuba or Allen Associates made payments to municipal officials other than Bencivengo, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence and is resisting calls to resign. Bencivengo in a recent state financial disclosure report said the $12,400 he received from Ljuba was a “loan,” not a bribe.

In another sign of federal investigators’ focus on Allen Associates, the FBI subpoenaed records in April for Hamilton’s records of correspondence between Bencivengo, Ljuba and Robbinsville Mayor David Fried. Fried and Bencivengo are Republican mayors of neighboring townships and were personal friends.

Robbinsville’s municipal government had a brokerage contract with Allen Associates, with Ljuba being Robbinsville’s broker of record until Fried canceled the contract days after the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Bencivengo with extortion nine weeks ago. Fried hasn’t been charged in connection with the federal investigation.

The Hamilton school board on May 23 voted to cut off all its ties with Allen Associates, which was operating without a contract as the Hamilton School District’s broker since mid-2009. The school district hired Maryland-based Insurance Buyers Council as a consultant to guide the district forward in the post-Allen Associates era.

Hamilton Schools Superintendent Dr. James Parla on Friday said he had no comment regarding Warney’s guilty plea, saying, “I don’t know who he is.” New to Hamilton, Parla began his term as superintendent in April. He was previously serving as the top administrator in the Wappingers Central School District of New York State.

Allen Associates on Friday referred questions about Warney’s admission to its attorney, who didn’t return a call for comment.

Warney, who said little in his court appearance before District Judge Peter G. Sheridan, was released on $100,000 unsecured bond and agreed to assist federal prosecutors with their investigation of Bencivengo.

“It’s terrible,” Hamilton Council President Kevin Meara said on Friday of Warney’s admission of guilt. “He was a director for the township. He was appointed by the mayor and I voted for him. It’s a terrible, terrible situation we’re in. There’s a cloud over Hamilton Township. What else can you say?”

Rich McClellan, speaking on behalf of the Hamilton Township Democratic Party, on Friday said all five members on the all-Republican Hamilton Council should call for Bencivengo’s resignation.

“Today’s plea is just another drumbeat in the walk of shame for indicted Mayor Bencivengo and his Republican friends on council who continue to refuse to demand his resignation,” McClellan said. “Hopefully the council will now abandon the sinking ship that is Mayor Bencivengo’s administration and finally take concrete steps to call for his removal from office.”

Meara said he won’t play politics with the corruption case surrounding the mayor. “We’ll wait for the judicial system to play itself out further at this point,” Meara said. “No one wins. Whether the Democrats or someone else wants to run for mayor, no one wins in this situation.”

Warney is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11 and faces up to 20 years in prison. His attorney, John Corson of Atlantic City, declined to comment, as did prosecutors.

Meanwhile, pressure for Bencivengo’s resignation grew Thursday night, when Gov. Christie during his regular “Ask the Governor” segment on New Jersey 101.5 said the mayor should step down.

“I think when a grand jury of your peers finds sufficient evidence to indict you on federal corruption charges that the best thing for you to do for your municipality is to remove that cloud of suspicion off of you,” Christie said. “But you don’t have an entitlement to a public office.”

About the Author

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman has been working as a professional journalist since graduating from Temple University in 2007. Prior to his current stint at The Trentonian, Abdur-Rahman worked at The Philadelphia Inquirer and wrote a self-published memoir about his 12-month experience of living in Australia on a spouse visa. Reach the author at sulaiman@trentonian.com
or follow Sulaiman on Twitter: @sabdurr.